2,000 minors split from parents at the US border

Nearly2,000 minors were separated from their parents or adult guardians whoillegally crossed into the United States over a recent six-week period,officials have said, as debate raged over how to end the deeplycontroversial practice. President Donald Trump, facing mountinganger over his administration’s “zero tolerance” border security policy,repeated that while he is incensed about the family separations, theopposition Democrats is to be blame for the crisis, which critics sayhowever is one of his own making.And the president signalled that the drama could drag on.AfterTrump initially seemed to say he was not keen on a Republicancompromise bill that includes a fix to the separation issue as well asDACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) protections for youngmigrants who arrived illegally as children, the White House walked backhis remarks.According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS)spokesman, between April 19 and May 31, a total of 1,995 children wereseparated from 1,940 adults who were being held by US border patrol.Amid an outcry over the detentions, the DHS official insisted that the minors were held in decent conditions.“We have some of the highest detention standards in the world for children,” he said.Some1,500 boys are being held in a former Walmart supermarket in Texas, andthe government is erecting tent structures near the border to house theincreasing number of migrant children, including unaccompanied minors,in custody.With the crackdown in full swing, the detained parentsare “in jail settings”, the official said, awaiting adjudication andpossible prosecution for crossing the border.The process can take several weeks.“This administration has made it clear that we are not going to ignore the law any longer,” the official said.Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have struggled to craft a viable immigration plan.TheRepublican-led House of Representatives may vote next week on twoimmigration measures – a hard-line bill drafted by House Judiciarychairman Bob Goodlatte, and a compromise measure that limits legalimmigration while also ending the family separations.“I’m looking at both of them,” Trump told Fox News. “I certainly wouldn’t sign the more moderate one.”Trump’sopposition would deal a body blow to efforts to tamp down the bordercrisis, which has raised alarm among evangelical leaders who backedTrump’s campaign.“The administration shows no sign of backing downfrom its policy of separating children from their parents despitepowerful new condemnation from faith leaders,” Tom Jawetz, thevice-president for immigration policy at progressive group Centre forAmerican Progress, told AFP.Hours after Trump’s comments, the White House issued a statement saying that the president had misspoken.“Thepresident fully supports both the Goodlatte bill and the Houseleadership bill,” according to White House spokesman Raj Shah.Thecompromise House Republican bill reportedly would provide $25bn for aborder wall, and detail a process giving young undocumented immigrantspermanent residency and a pathway to citizenship.On Twitter, Trumpaddressed what he specifically wants in new legislation including “fullfunding for the Wall”, an end to a diversity visa lottery and certaincategories of family-based migration, and a shift toward “merit basedimmigration” for skilled workers.He also accused Democrats of“forcing the break-up of families at the border” because they arepushing their own “cruel” uncompromising legislative agenda.Democratswent on the counter-attack, with top House Democrat Nancy Pelosicalling the Republican proposal “simply unworthy of America”.Familyseparation “is an immoral, horrific policy”, added Senator DianneFeinstein, who has introduced legislation to keep immigrant familiestogether.Trump stressed he opposes the separations.“I hate the children being taken away,” he said.Buthe also repeated the falsehood that Democrats, currently in theminority in Congress, are responsible for a law that mandates familyseparations.There is no law that requires parents be separated from their children at the border.However,if parents in the United States are jailed, their children are splitfrom them because the children are not themselves charged with a crime.The DHS official also rejected as “not true” various reports of wrongdoing, including the turning away of some asylum-seekers.Healso refuted the claim that agents were surreptitiously misleadingchildren and parents in order to separate them, as well as one reportwhich detailed a mother being separated from her child duringbreastfeeding.